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Page 478
William must love John and only John. It was intolerable that his heart should have room for others than his brother.
In addition, the castellan would be dead so no revelation about how de Vipont and the squires met their ends need be feared from him. Because it was her castellan, Alinor could be accused of treason, of the murder of her husband and his squires, of fomenting war in Wales. That would finish her. She could starve in prison, the boy could diechildren died easilythe girl might be useful. The estate would come to the crown. And there would surely be war in Wales. Llewelyn would come raging out of his territories to avenge the death of his base-born cub for which, whatever he was told, he would blame Gwenwynwyn. The two Welsh cockrels would exhaust each other, and John would have no more trouble with either of them for many yearsif either survived. In Wales, war for power was one thing, blood feuds were quite another. It was a pity de Cantelu and Cornhill were still at Canterbury making sure that all the archbishop's possessions were transferred to the king. He would have liked something extra special in the line of sexual pleasure tonight, but there was no one else he would trust for that kind of party. Then John's tongue flicked across his lips again. There was a new one among his wife's ladies, a 14-year-old bride. He crooked a finger at a body servant and whispered in his ear.

 
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